Bottle closing machine



April 25, 1961 MU R 2,981,044

BOTTLE CLOSING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1959 by r i Mi, W N i ATTORNEY INVENTOR "I Q I I 2,981,044 BOTTLE crosnvo MACHINE Erich Miiller, Rothenbacll, Pegnitz, Germany, assignor to Keller & Romer G.m.b.H., Numberg, Germany, a firm Filed Feb. 18, 1959, Ser. No. 794,074

6 Claims. (Cl. 53 -310) The invention relates to a machine for closing bottles with crown corks. There are already all types of apparatus and machines of various designs for this purpose, the essential part of a crown cork machinebeing the closing head. For performing the closing operation satisfactorily, the latter must be designed so that it contains transmission members which are coupled one to the other during the. descent of the closing head until the crown cork is flanged on to the bottle but are afterwards unlocked. In known machines of this kind, this is done by means of coupling elements which are adapted to yield or withdraw, such as balls.

In such machines, the closing operation in itself is satisfactorily performed when the bottle to be closed is disposed exactly below the closing opening. If, on the other hand, on the descent of the closing head, it is not below the opening, but say, owing to some irregularity in the feed, below the edge of the opening so that it cannot by itself slide into the opening, then this results without fail in the breaking of the bottle.

The object of the invention is to construct the. machine and the closing head thereof in such manner that even if the bottle is not fed concentrically breaking thereof is obviated. The invention achieves this object by a design of those transmission members on which the coupling elements act directly such that the coupling of these members for transmitting the flanging pressure is completed only after the top of the bottle has been introduced into the opening in the closing head and the crown cork has acted on the contact-producing plunger. To this end, there is arranged on the contactproducing plunger a transmission member of cross-section such that the coupling elements do not yet act in the initial position of the closing head, but are freely movable and above all can yield or fall back between the said transmission member and the housing of the closing head, that is abutments mounted in the housing for later transmission of the pressure.

Now, if a bottle is not disposed concentrically below the closing head, the movable parts thereof, which are subject to spring action, can immediately yield upwardly as a whole, because the coupling elements are not yet in operation.

Another improvement in the machine concerns the feed of the crown corks. Normally, these lie in the feed chute right into the closing opening and the corks pushing on behind frequently give rise to trouble. The invention obviates this trouble by inserting a hold-back finger in the feed chute in front of the closing opening. This finger holds back the crown corks disposed upright in the feed chute and releases only one cork after each closing operation. Hence, the weight of the corks contained in the feed chute does not presson the cork in the closing Opening. V The crown corks enter the feed chute from a supply container by way of a separating device known per se. The drive of this separating device, which moves up and down with the closing head, is carried out, according to the invention, from the drive of the machine by way of a grooved rod which is slidably mounted in'rotatably mounted tube acting at its top end on the toothed wheel gearing of the separating device. The transmission of the rotary movement is effected by means of balls which are engaged partly in the said tube and partly in the grooves of the rod. This constitutes a particularly simple and suitable drive for the separating device and takes the upward and downward movement of the C108! ing head into account.

An example of embodiment of the machine according to the invention and of the closing head thereof is shown in section in the drawing.

in the drawing, 1 designates the housing proper ofthe closing head, to which the container 2 for the crown corks and the parts associated therewith are fixedly connected. In the housing 1 there is slidably mounted a sleeve 3 which carries both the transmission members and the closing ring 4. Into the sleeve 3 there is screwed a bush 5 in which is slidably mounted the stem 6 which is also disposed in another bush 8 subjected to the pres sure of a spring 7 and carries the contact-producing plunger or ram 9 at its lower end. The sleeve 3 is under the action of the spring 10 by way of the bush 5, this spring holding the sleeve 3 in its normal position. On the bush 5 there are arranged coupling elements in the form of laterally swingable wedges 11 which are dis? posed between a transmission member 12 of substantially octagonal cross-section mounted on the stem 6 and a sleeve 13, which latter is fixedly located in the housing 1 and is provided with inclined shoulders or abutments 14.

The closing head operates as follows:

After the bottle 15 has been placed below the opening 16 of the closing head, the entire closing head moves downwardly, all the parts being in their initial position shown in the drawing. The rim of the bottle now engages the crown cork 17 disposed above the opening 16 and presses it against the contact-producing plunger 9. Owing to this, the stem 6 first of all yields and travels upwardly together with the transmission member 12 until the wedges 11 are located adjacent the broadest control surface 18 of the member 12, whereby they are forced outwardly and'against the abutments 14. In this way, since the sleeve 3 cannot yield, the necessary resistance is produced, by means of which the cork which has meanwhile entered the closing ring 4 is flanged over the rim of the bottle.

On completion of this flanging operation, the stem has moved upwardly a little further still, so that the Wedges 11 are now disposed opposite the receding control sur, face 18. If the closing head now moves further downwardly in spite of the flanging operation having been terminated-there must in any case be a certain play in the height of movement because of any different or inaccurate bottle heights there may bethe sleeve 3 can yield upwardly together with its associated parts owing to yielding of the wedges 11 inwardly.

When the closing head moves upwardly again, the spring 10 forces the sleeve 3 downwardly, while at the same time the spring 7 pushes the top of the bottle with the flanged over cork, by way of the bush 8 and the contactproducing plunger 9, out of the closing ring Finally, the spring 19 also forces the transmission member 12 under the wedges 11, so that all the parts again ado'pt their initial positions. I

If it happens that a bottle is fed irregularly and is located to the side below the opening 16 when the closing head descends, the sleeve 3 can yield upwardly because the wedges 11 are not yet forced against the abutments 14, since the contact-producing plunger 9 is not yet infiuenced and thus the transmission member does not come into operation. In this way, all breaking of bottles is pre vented.

It is a matter of course that the invention is not limited to the construction shown. In paricular, the coupling elements 11 and the transmission member 12 may also be differently designed.

The feed chute 21 extends from the cork container 2 provided with the separating device 20 to the opening 16 of the closing head. In front of this opening there is arranged a hold-back finger 22 which engages in the feed chute 21. This finger 22 is swingable and is swung out of the chute 21 by means of suitable elements after each closing operation, so that the next cork can slip down to the closing opening 16. Thereafter, the finger 22 swings in again and holds back the corks contained in the chute 21.

A second (feed) finger 23 likewise engages in the chute 21 and its aim is to ensure the satisfactory following-on of the corks. This finger is mounted on a movable lever 24 and is pushed into the chute 21 by its weight, but can yield as the corks slip down.

The drive of the separating device 20 is carried out from the drive of the machine by way of a shaft or rod 25 provided with longitudinal grooves 26. This ro'd engages in a tube 27 rotatably mounted on the closing head and which is connected to the toothed wheel gearing 28 of the ,4 a said outwardly projecting coupling position during said relative movement to rigidly couple said closure member with said support until the crown cap is attached by said crown throat whereupon said actuating member passes said first coupling members permitting the same to return to said retracted position.

3. In a bottle closing machine, in combination, a head comprising a reciprocating support; a spring-loaded tubular closure member resiliently and movably mounted on said support, and including a throat portion for receiving a crown cap and formed with an opening matching the neck of a bottle so that said closure member resiliently yields when engaging a misaligned bottle neck; a

ber movably mounted on said plunger, spring means conseparating device. In the tube 27 there are mounted balls 7 29 engaging in the grooves 26 in the rod 25, so that the rotary movement of the latter is transmitted to the tube, while the latter moves up and down with the closing head.

' What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a bottle closing machine, in combination, a head comprising a reciprocating support; a spring-loaded tubular closure member resiliently and movably mounted on said support, and including a throat portion for receiving a crown cap and formed with an opening matching the necting said actuating member with said closure member and holding said actuating member in a normal position on said plunger, a plurality of first coupling members turnably mounted on said tubular closure member for movement between a retracted position and an outpling position, said first coupling members being shifted neck of a bottle so that said closure member resiliently yields when engaging a misaligned bottle neck; a plunger movably mounted in said tubular closure member and having an end portion located in said throat portion aligned with said opening to abut a crown cap on a bottle neck located in said opening; spring means between said plunger and said tubular closure member whereby said closure member moves relative to said plunger when the same is stopped by the bottle neck; and coupling means for rigidly coupling said closure member with said support, said coupling means being operatively connected to said plunger and actuated by the same during said relative movement to first rigidly co'uple said closure member with said support until the crown cap is attached by said crown throat and to then move to a releasing position.

2. In a bottle closing machine, in combination, a head comprising a reciprocating support; a spring-loaded tubular closure member resiliently and movably mounted on said support, and including a throat portion for receiving a crown cap and formed with an opening matching the neck of a bottle so that said closure member resiliently yields when engaging a misaligned bottle neck; a plunger movably mounted in said tubular closure member and having an end portion located in said throat portion aligned with said opening to abut a crown cap on a bottle neck located in said opening; spring means between said plunger and said tubular closure member whereby said closure member moves relative to said plunger when the same is stopped by the bottle neck; and coupling means for rigidly coupling said closure member with said support, said coupling means including an actuating member mounted on said plunger, a plurality of first coupling members turnably mounted on said tubular closure member for movement between a retracted position and an outwardly projecting coupling position, and a second coupling member rigidly mounted on said support outwardly of said closure member and being engaged by said first coupling members in said outwardly projecting coupling position, said first coupling members being shifted to to said outwardly projecting coupling position during said relative movement to rigidly couple said closure member with said support until the crown cap is attached by said crown throat whereupon said actuating member passes said first coupling members permitting the same to return bular closure member resiliently and movably mounted on said support, and including a throat portion for receiving a crown cap and formed with an opening matching the neck of a bottle so that said closure member resiliently yields when engaging a misaligned bottle neck; a plunger movably mounted in said tubular closure member and having an end portion located in said throat portion aligned with said opening to abut a crown cap on a bottle neck located in said opening; spring means between said plunger and said tubular closure member whereby said closure member moves relative to said plunger when the same is stopped by the bottle neck; and coupling means for rigidly coupling said closure member with said support, said coupling means including an actuating member movably mounted on said plunger, said actuating member having a pair of oppositely inclined control faces, spring means connecting said actuating member with said closure member and holding said actuating member in a normal position on said plunger, a plurality of first coupling members turnably mounted on said tubular closure member for movement between a retracted position and an outwardly projecting coupling position, and a second coupling member rigidly mounted on said support outwardly of said closure member and being engaged by said first coupling members in said outwardly projecting coupling position, said first coupling members being shifted to said outwardly projecting coupling position by one of said inclined control faces during said relative movement to rigidly couple said closure member with said support until the crown cap is attached by said crown throat whereupon said actuating member passes said first coupling members permitting the same to return to said retracted position after said second control face has passed said first coupling"members.

5. A bottle closing head as set forth in claim 4, wherein said first coupling members have inwardly projecting control portions surrounding said actuating member and cooperating with said control faces; and wherein said second coupling member is annular and surrounds said closure member.

6. A machine as set forth in claim 4, wherein said head includes a chute for supplying crown caps and terminating in said throat portion; feeding means for feeding single crown caps in said chute; a tubular shaft mounted on said head for driving said feeding means and 6 having an inner axially extending groove; a stationary drive shaft having an axial groove and mounted in said tubular shaft; and ball means in said grooves for cou pling said shafts during reciprocation of said tubular shaft with said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

